Oscar Piastri reveals 'big surprise' after shock George Russell battle victory

Oscar Piastri has revealed that it was a "big surprise" to come out on top in his battle with George Russell during the Japanese Grand Prix.

Piastri qualified third behind both Mercedes drivers but led the opening stages following an excellent launch off the grid.

Russell and Kimi Antonelli both lost several positions, although the former quickly recovered to second, slotting in behind Piastri.

The McLaren driver expected the Briton to breeze past given Mercedes’ performance advantage; however, that did not happen.

Piastri, who was already confident of beating both Ferraris in the race, was surprised to be able to stay ahead of Russell.

Victory at Suzuka was a real possibility had it not been for a safety car, which effectively handed Antonelli the win and left Piastri to settle for second.

There was clear confidence from the Australian that he could stay ahead of Russell—something he ultimately achieved.

"I think we felt like we could maybe stay ahead of Ferrari," said Piastri. "I think looking back at qualifying, clearly something wrong happened with the deployment for both Charles and Lewis, so I think the gap I had in qualifying flattered us a bit. 

"And yeah, we thought that would be a challenge. And to be honest, I think Charles and I had very similar pace through most of the race. That was about what we expected. 

"I think being able to keep George behind was a big surprise. Once he got back into second, I thought that he was going to come past in about half a lap and I was going to settle in for second and wait for Kimi to do the same. 

"But the fact that we could be so close to Mercedes and beat one of them, I think that was a much more pleasant surprise."